| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | |
|---|---|
The 2022 recipient: Zendaya | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| First awarded | 1954 |
| Currently held by | Zendaya, Euphoria (2022) |
| Website | emmys |
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually in the U.S. by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a television drama series for the primetime network season.
The award was first presented at the 6th Primetime Emmy Awards on February 11, 1954. The acting awards presented during the inaugural years were not genre-specific, with actresses in either drama or comedy series receiving nominations and awards. While Eve Arden was the first winner in the female acting category, Loretta Young was the first actress to win for a lead performance in a drama series. By 1966, the acting awards were split into drama and comedy categories, undergoing several name changes until settling with the current title.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 157 actresses, with 31 winning for performances in a drama series. At four awards, Tyne Daly and Michael Learned hold the record for most wins in the category. Angela Lansbury is the most nominated actress in the category, with twelve nominations, though she has never won the award. In 2015, Viola Davis became the first African-American woman to win the award, for her performance as Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder. Zendaya is the current, as well as youngest, recipient of the award for her work on Euphoria.
Listed below are the winners of the award for each year, as well as the other nominees.
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Indicates the winning actress | |
| # | Indicates a performance in a miniseries or television film, prior to the category's creation |
| § | Indicates a performance as a guest performer, prior to the category's creation |
| Year | Actress | Role | Program | Episode submission | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (72nd) |
Zendaya | Ruby "Rue" Bennett | Euphoria | "Made You Look" | HBO |
| Jodie Comer | Villanelle | Killing Eve | "Are You From Pinner?" | BBC America | |
| Sandra Oh | Eve Polastri | "Are You Leading or Am I?" | |||
| Jennifer Aniston | Alex Levy | The Morning Show | "In the Dark Night of the Soul It's Always 3:30 in the Morning" | Apple TV+ | |
| Olivia Colman | Queen Elizabeth II | The Crown | "Cri de Coeur" | Netflix | |
| Laura Linney | Wendy Byrde | Ozark | "Fire Pink" | ||
| 2021 (73rd) |
Olivia Colman | Queen Elizabeth II | The Crown | "48:1" | Netflix |
| Emma Corrin | Diana, Princess of Wales | The Crown | "Fairytale" | Netflix | |
| Uzo Aduba | Dr. Brooke Taylor | In Treatment | "Brooke — Week 5" | HBO | |
| Elisabeth Moss | June Osborne | The Handmaid's Tale | "Home" | Hulu | |
| Michaela Jaé Rodriguez | Blanca Rodriguez | Pose | "Series Finale" | FX | |
| Jurnee Smollett | Letitia "Leti" Lewis | Lovecraft Country | "Holy Ghost" | HBO | |
| 2022 (74th) | |||||
| Zendaya | Ruby "Rue" Bennett | Euphoria | "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird" | HBO | |
| Jodie Comer | Villanelle | Killing Eve | "Don't Get Eaten" | BBC America | |
| Sandra Oh | Eve Polastri | "Making Dead Things Look Nice" | |||
| Laura Linney | Wendy Byrde | Ozark | "Pound of Flesh and Still Kickin'" | Netflix | |
| Melanie Lynskey | Shauna Sadecki | Yellowjackets | "Doomcoming" | Showtime | |
| Reese Witherspoon | Bradley Jackson | The Morning Show | "Confirmations" | Apple TV+ |
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